Molecular diagnostics firm Cepheid is laying off 626 employees at its Sunnyvale, CA, headquarters and 11 employees at its Fremont, CA, logistics center, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the state of California.
Most of the positions that are being eliminated are in manufacturing, according to the WARN report, and the layoffs will be effective September 27.
The layoffs will affect approximately 13% of Cepheid's 4,800 employees. Both affected facilities will remain in operation.
Cepheid, a Danaher company, produces cartridge-based diagnostics, primarily for infectious diseases. Its Xpert HCV test for the hepatitis C virus (HCV), along with the GeneXpert Xpress System, was granted de novo marketing authorization and a CLIA Certificate of Waiver by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late June. The Xpert HCV assay is the first point-of-care RNA test for HCV; it enables testing and treatment of HCV in a single healthcare provider visit.
In its WARN documentation, Cepheid said that it would offer onsite outplacement services to all employees being laid off, to be provided by a third-party vendor.
